Fancy Colored Diamonds

Mostly known as colorless, diamonds can be of many different colors.

Natural

The reason why they are less commercialized is principally because they are way rarer. Experts esteem that for 10,000 mined diamonds, only one will have the components to be classified as a Fancy Colored Diamond. They are analyzed with the same characteristics than colorless diamonds; carat weight, cut, clarity and color. However, color is from far the one criteria to be differently evaluated.

Color

All diamonds are analyzed with the same interest, their rarity. Colorless diamonds are graded from D to Z, evaluating the absence of color in the stone. In the opposite, Fancy Colored Diamonds are analyzed with a completely different scale out of the Z range.

They can be yellow, pink, red, green, blue or black. But where is their color from? There are two main reasons why a diamond has color. Both happen while the diamond is created. It will either be from the presence of a foreign element or from an atomic irregularity in the crystal structure. These elements or irregularities create a light effect where the color is from. More there is, more intense the color will be reflected.

There are different aspects that are taking part in the analysis of the color classification. There is the primary color we give to a diamond (hue). The hue will usually be pink, blue, green, yellow, etc. We also have the tone, which refers to how light or dark the hue of the diamond is. And finally we have the saturation, which relates to how intense the coloration is.

Like mentioned earlier, there are different reasons why diamonds will have a color. For Fancy Colored Diamonds with a yellow hue, we can observe nitrogen. Depending on the quantity of the element, tone and saturation will vary. Like you can see in the example above, darker the tone of diamond with a yellow hue gets more in tends to be brownish. And higher it saturation is, more intense is the yellow. This chart was specifically created for yellow Fancy Colored Diamonds. Even if they are somehow more common, there is a different rarity between all of these categories of yellow hue. Obviously, by rarity we also mean higher price value.

For Fancy Colored Diamonds with pink and red hue, they are known for being the rarest. The pink ones are mostly mined in Australia (90-95% of the worldwide market). They result from an extremely high temperature and pressure expositions while their creation. As a result, these conditions make the carbon’s atoms wrongly positioned and follow imperfect links in the crystal structure, where the red and pink hues are from.

Each hue has its own reasons, which relates beautifully with how a diamond is unique. Natural Fancy Colored Diamonds are fascinating, so are their price points.

Famous Natural Fancy Colored Diamonds

Considering their rareness and exclusivity, few natural Fancy Colored Diamonds are famous. There is the diamond Hope. He was discovered during the 17th century. Owned by many different people through the years, he is also known as bringing bad luck to whoever owns it. In 1958 Harry Winston offered the 45.52ct diamond to The Smithsonian Institution in Washington D.C. The Hope diamond is described as a Fancy Deep grayish blue diamond. It was since then, part of different events around the world.

Here is another example of a famous Fancy Colored Diamond with a red hue. From Hancock’s story, you will understand how rare a red diamonds. Since 1987, Hancock has the title of the diamond with the highest price point by carat ever sold in auction. This red diamond of 0.95 carat was sold for $880,000 USD.

Product of an impressive process, natural Fancy Colored Diamonds are unfortunately sold for important price points. Luckily for you, we now have access to a technology that allows us to treat diamonds.

Treated diamonds

To make Fancy Colored Diamonds more affordable, treated diamonds with enhancement are possible. They are made from natural diamonds that appear like colorless, but once the treatment done, different hues can come out. The existing techniques are all inspired from the natural process a Fancy Colored Diamond would receive. We then have coating enhances, high-pressure and High-temperature (HPHT), and irradiation.

Fancy Colored Diamonds with enhancements are available in a large variety of colors. But why choose these instead of gems like rubies, emeralds, etc.? First, it is very common that gemstones received treatments as well. Second, diamonds have one characteristic they are know for, their hardness. Some gemstones unfortunately are too soft to be worn daily without the risk of damaging them. There for, a treated Fancy Colored Diamond is interesting for its color, hardness and brilliance.

Shape

For colorless diamonds, experts focus on the light return a diamond gives. For Fancy Colored Diamonds we are looking to maximize their color. Considering this desire, there are some shapes that are more interesting than others. As an example, Round and Princess Cuts do not concentrate the color enough. Therefore, Fancy Colored Diamonds shapes are usually inspired by classic shapes, but modified. The Cushion cut is known to be a very popular shape, and we now have the Modified Cushion cut for Fancy Colored Diamonds. In some cases they will change the number of facets and their angles, based on the size of the stone.

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